Listen Closely
by Frustration At Its Finest
Summary: In which Maka is pissed and Soul has to drop the cool bullshit to make up for it. Rated T for language. Soma fluffy drabble fic.


Note:I do not own Soul Eater or its characters. They belong to Atsushi Okubo, as always. Rated T due to cursing.

"You've got such a thick skull, seriously!"

"Yeah? And whose fault would that be Maka?!"

"Yours, obviously. If you would think before you speak, I wouldn't have to knock the sense into you so often," Maka spits at him disdainfully from her pacing path directly in front of the couch Soul is sitting on. He glowers at her, lifting his chin haughtily so he can look her in the face when she finally decides he's worth a glance.

"I _always_ think before I speak. If you would just listen to what I mean rather than what you think I'm saying, my skull would be much less abused, I can assure you!"

For a moment Maka is stunned into silence. She stares out the window, at nothing really, and decides to take Soul's advice. A moment to process what has been said before she reacts, surprisingly, sounds like a good idea. She notices Soul's barely contained fidgeting in her periphery and has to stifle a giggle. He can be pretty adorable once in a while. When he has the good sense to shut the fuck up.. She ignores him for a few more moments to reflect on what he had said earlier in the day that had irked her so much in the first place. He had told her that the reason why she never got partner requests, was because most guys go for the feminine charm,(aka huge tits). Of course her initial reaction would be to get at least a little pissed off. Then she takes a moment to analyze his words, and understand the meaning behind them.

_Oh_.

Soul is the first to break this silence, trying to disappear his right hand in his tangled mop of snowy hair, while reaching towards her(albeit rather awkwardly) with his other hand.

"What I said to you earlier today was true. Most guys I've known seem to be pretty preoccupied with giant tits," Maka does her best not to splutter and flush, fails at both, "but if that was all that mattered to me, you would have left me in the dust a long time ago. We both know that. Do you know what does matter to me?" She thinks she does, but she's uncertain, and silently shakes her head. "You. I told you a long time ago that it is only the soul that matters. What has changed since then? You're so goddamned smart Maka, why didn't you know this already? You're incredible. I know it, all our friends know it, your dad knows it, so who gives a shit about partner requests? Do you actually…_want_ a new partner?" At this point, Soul is much less fervent than when he had started his rant, posture more wilted than usual, only mumbling the last few words. He hadn't thought of that possibility until just now, and contemplating it makes him feel physically ill.

Before he gets a real chance to dwell though, she whips around to look him in the face as she nearly shouts at him a desperate sounding, 'No!'.

Her first instinct is to be embarrassed, but she can feel his insecurity pulsing harshly in waves from his soul, so she musters up some of that courage she's so well known for and takes his face in both hands so he can only look at her. She wants him to see how serious she is when she says this.

"Soul… I would never want someone other than you. You're my partner. You're probably the only person who can deal with me 24/7. It's just, it would be nice.. well not nice. Reassuring? If someone else thought I was a worthy meister, ya know?" She feels like a petty, jealous child, whining about how no one wants to be their friend at recess. She feels sick to her stomach. She feels unbearably insecure. She thought she had gotten over these things, but truth telling sessions always tend to dredge up old shit.

"Maka, everyone knows you kick ass. But everyone also knows," he assures her as he takes her hands in his and moves to whisper directly into her ear, "that you. Are. _Mine." _ He tilts his head to gently press a kiss to her temple, causing her to yelp in surprise and flush brightly, from her ears to her toes.

Soul tries his level best not to laugh at her.

He really, truly does.

He fails.

His chuckles are still going, his arms wrapped around Maka in a warm embrace. She can feel the vibration of his laughter in her chest, can sense how content he is in this moment. It makes her… happy. In a way she has not been for a while. She wraps her arms around his torso, holding tighter and tighter until his laughter dies down, and she can faintly feel his quick breaths behind her right ear, his face gently nuzzled against her throat. This is weird, and wonderful, and she doesn't know why they don't do this more often, their little truth telling sessions.

"I'm yours, huh?"

"Yep. And I'm yours. So stop worrying about partner request letters. Because you'll never need one, I'll make sure of it."

And you know what? She believes him.

Why shouldn't she?


End file.
